Naturally, the team is devastated after being brought down once again in the finals after a strong home-and-away campaign, ending in third.
One of the major setbacks came in round 18, edged out by Numurkah by a point and costing the side a top-two finish and a double chance in finals, a position it held for the majority of the season.
“To be brutally honest, we probably go back to the last home-and-away game where we lose to Numurkah and then don’t get that second chance,” Moama co-coach Liam Barrett said.
“So, if we go back to that, we most likely should have aimed to win that game to give ourselves a chance to finish in the top two, and then we would’ve most likely played in the preliminary final, but that’s finals, unfortunately.”
Reflecting on the semi-final against Cobram, Barrett was candid about his team’s performance, with the side falling short of its dream of grand final glory for the first time since 2011.
“It hurts me to say that we just probably got outplayed a little bit, we feel like we only really played 20 minutes of good footy where we could challenge them and play the way we really wanted to,” he said.
“That’s credit to Cobram, the way they played. We won three of the four quarters, our slow start was the story of the day.
“We just had to stay in touching distance, but in the final it’s always hard to come back, so it was pretty disappointing.”
Barrett looked back at the season and, after major changes to the playing list in the preseason, was proud of the way the team developed together during the season.
“During preseason we had a few different ups and downs with recruiting, but we finally got the squad we wanted. I feel like throughout the year we improved and a number of players, you know, played arguably the best footy of their careers so far,” he said.
“It is a good indication of the culture and the program that Jye (Warren) and I were trying to implement.
“I think as much as it hurts that we didn’t get to the prelim, we got some good development into some younger blokes and hopefully developed the list further, and so that was a positive.”
Barrett paid special mention to the slew of talented young guns coming through the ranks at Moama and predicted a bright future for the seniors in the coming years, despite he and co-coach Jye Warren stepping down for the 2026 season.
“The club has got many good juniors still coming through, I think at the end of the day the club just needs to hold on to the list they’ve got,” he said.
“I feel like the club’s in good hands and not far off.
“It’s wonderful that we’ve been able to give a lot of guys opportunities this year, but I guess a couple that come to mind are Rhys Drennan and Trent Gray.
“As a young fella, he’s (Drennan) had a promising year, and he’s going to be an exceptional player.
“Trent Gray played the majority of the year as well, and he looks like he’s got a really bright future as well.
“There are a number of other guys as well that were brought in and given game time to, so I’m sure they’ll come along.
“It’s a really exciting time for the club.”
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